Common cold prevention. Helping a baby with a runny nose and cough

Autumn is the time when it starts getting chilly and common colds are our body’s response to weather changes. To get through autumn and winter without lingering diseases it is important to prepare for them.

FOOD

Food should meet all the needs of a child in proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. The main sources of protein are:

lean meat;

cottage cheese;

fish;

eggs;

cheese;

milk;

nuts;

legumes.

Healthy fats include butter, olive, sesame and pumpkin oil which can be added to the food. Sources of carbohydrates are grains, whole wheat bread, fresh and stewed vegetables and fruits.

DAILY ROUTINE

It is important to plan it based on the child's biorhythms so that he can sleep well in the daytime and at night. It is during the sleep when the immune system forms and the brain and all other organs and tissues grow and develop.

COLDWATER BATHING

Cold water bathing helps to avoid hypothermia of the body in the winter. It is important to start doing it in a comfortable temperature lowering it by 1-2 degrees per week while bathing the child in the tub. It’s a gradual system and it’s important to start applying it as early as possible. Infant swimming is a great way to strengthen baby’s health.

SPORT

Sport and rehabilitation exercises increase endurance, improve metabolism and develop the body, massage, and gymnastics from an early age contribute to strengthening the immune system. It’s been found that children who do sports get sick much less compared to the group of children who don’t do any sports.

However, it’s not always possible to prevent a cold. What can you do if you have a runny nose and cough?

RUNNY NOSE

It’s characterized by irregular breathing through the nose, rhinedema and abundant nasal mucus flow - first transparent, and then thick. Often the onset of the disease can be accompanied by fever. When the body temperature rises above 38 °C you need to give the child a fever-reducing syrup following the instruction. Rhinedema can be got rid of with the help of vasoconstrictor nasal drops for children and nasal passages can be cleaned from mucus with an aspirator. To exclude sinusitis and otitis show the child to the doctor.

COUGH

A cough often comes with a runny nose. However, coughing occurs together with a runny nose and with a separate lesion of the airway passages: trachea or bronchi. With all types of a cough, it’s important to do inhalations with saline solution and lymphatic drainage massage to clear the lungs of accumulated sputum. If your child has a strong cough at night, signs of obstruction and pneumonia make sure to consult a doctor to check the condition and observe the dynamics with the doctor.

The first measures of helping the child with different conditions are important but they can’t replace seeing the doctor.